The Greenville times., 1887-10-01
H,RBOR PKOTECTlOA'
Plan Of n, Eorl on our El''F FF''i'

On our LlNtl lAN-F uall
-eresting = nature, and Is wen ;.l
rortbv Of eur attention, rom ~
!" 1910 ol and its magnitude ana
more especially from Its surpass
ing Importance TO Ourselyes-as !
nav ~ fairly be said that upon lie
success depends in great meas
nTe the future of Greenyllie. II
has long been evident that the
Great drawback to its prosperity,
vas the shifting and uncertain ma
,nra of the site upon when II
siood-and this had much greater
and more far reaching eonseqaen-
ces than would appear at nrsI
SIGHT. That there was enIaileu
thereby a serious annual loss OF
property and expense Of moving
bindings. was one of the least OF
the evils of the precarious situa'
tion. 1t was economically lmpos-
sibIe 10 erect any regular system
Of sewerage or drainage, to build
inclines for the transfer OF railway
trans across the river, to nave q
permanent levee in front OF the
town or in short to carry TO CON-
pletion any enterprise OF a per
manent character. Capitalists hes
itated TO invest money in a town
which might be wiped out In TWEEN
ty wears. Railroads threatened 10
give il the go-by. And nothing
saved it but its great local resour-
ces.; and they could not not save
the town forever.
That ii is possible to retrieve
this misfortune Of our situation is
| one of the obligations we are un-
der to the Mississippi River Com
mission; which alone should en-
title that body to an everlasting
gratitude, and insure for 1t our
steady and constant support. by
means of the researches and ex-
periments presented by its officers
| il has been demonstrated that the
caying of banks is not an incura-
BILE evil, as was once supposed,
but may be checked and that with
out inordinate cost. tits to their
recommendation that we are in
debted for the Appropriation by
Congress that renders the present
work possible, and it is from the
same source we must derive the
still greater further sums to be re-
quired IN the future. The duty ol
the commission is already done in
this regard. Their recommends
ton is made, and is embraced IN
their forthcoming report; and il
only remains for congress to acI
upon it.
The work now in progress OF
our front is of a somewhat move
character-that is, it is of quite
recent origin, and there are very
few examples of 1t. 1t is wei
; known that the original approved
, plan of bank protection was b.
what is commonly called revet
ment. This is o term taken from
the French, and means a lining o
facing of any kind, but has gener
ally been employed in q more re
! stricted and technical sense espe
cially in fortifcatlon, to signify
:" backing" for the purpose of sus
: tanning q slope sleeper than tha
r of natural earth. In the presen
and similar instances the expires
, SION has been applied to u continr
= GUS mattress of willow poles au
: brush, loaded with stone, and co,
a erlng every portion of the bank t
!, be protected.
: This method with various mod
flcations suggested by experienc
1 and enforced by repeated failure
was the only device relied npo
!, for bank protection, when this la
ter alone was desired until 1SS-
# when departure from the old pla
G was necesitated in particular il
: stance, by special difficulties {
9 construction and maintenance
This was In the case of the Gould
bourough Bend, IN the harb0r
, New Orleans. To avoid these di
I ficulties, system of "submerge
e spurs" was proposed by Majt
/ Stickney, and partially carried il
!. to execution. A "spurr is dib
Q placed approximately perpendicI
lar to the bank, as distinguishe
from a longitudinal dixie, or on
nearly parallel to the direction
9 the river. A Submerged dix,
is one which is wholly or for til
IS most part under water.
e The success of the experiment
: in Gouldsbourough Bend was
. decided that it was determined
make use of the same system
: Memphis; as is we'll known Il
l. caving at that point has beeon
S very formidable, undermining Il
/. very bluffs on which the eli
stands, and threatening the safe
of many very expensive and ma
sive edifices. Revetment hs
been tired with success, but II
der great difficulties, owing to Il
strength of the current, the wild
OF mattress to be sunk, the dep
c of the water and the overhanpll
: bank. Captain Leach thereto
i adopted the method of submerg,
4 dikes, and with the most gratif
ing results. The caying was col
pletely stopped. and bnildin,
which were half undermined =
. still hanging as they were left, ,
the brink of the bluff.
The spur-dikes so often allu
ed to are cribhed structures
poles and brush, loaded with ston
They are built in several layers,
stones, the lowermost filing Il
? deepest bollows, and the topmo
G carrying the work continuously ,
| =, rnUrio, ;,,..i;... - y